Filming Live Music

An essay by Charles Light

Filming Live Music

The filming of live music has been something that I have been a part of for a long time. Working on camera on a
stage has become very natural for me and from a technical standpoint I have learned a lot over the years. So
naturally this is what I will be researching and going over for my essay.

Camera’s Used

Through the years of filming live music. The industry has seen many different cameras being used. But in recent
years Sony has definitely been the crowd favourite. The photo below is taken by a professional cinematographer
showing his setup and while this was a few years back, all cameras are Sony camera’s showing how popular
they are. Because they have to run for the duration of the show. DSLRs cannot be used as they generally don’t
record for more that 30 minutes to fit within the regulations.

So, professionals opt to used camcorders or television cameras. More recently the Sony FS series has
been immensely popular. As you can see it is an 8-camera set up with 2 remote cameras at the base of
the stage. A few cameras on legs (tripod) one on a ped and tracks for x and y axis movement. Moreover,
there is a camera up on a crane to get some high shots over the top of the stage. This can really enh ance
the feeling pf the production as you have a wide variety of shots. Interestingly there are fewer cameras up
close to the stage only the 2 MC1P’s. Having this kind of setup with cameras zoomed in but far away can
create some nice cinematic footage and would be great for a documentary of the band for example
however for a live broadcast of a quite upbeat and busy band it might be missing a little bit of intimacy as
the cameras are so far away from the artists.

How it is Edited

A vision mixers job is to live edit television programs, sports events, or music gigs as they are being
transmitted or recorded. There may be a director for them to take cues from. However, it can also be the
vision mixer to decide which camera goes out live, this is probably more for music gigs where there’s
usually only cameras to switch between compared to the news where there would be graphics or text to
flick between as well. Just like a sound mixer, a vision mixer works on a mixing desk fitted with various
nobs and buttons used for switching cameras and manipulating the output. Vision mixing is most popular
in sport broadcasts such as football games, News, and entertainment. According to
creativelivesinprogress.com “Vision mixing is a high adrenaline job that comes with a lot of
responsibility” this includes exceptionally long hours. You are relied on to stay focused and keep calm
under pressure and manage to constantly edit with the right timing. In the realm of live music, where it is
crucial to do your best to get the right atmosphere for the broadcast in order to highlight the art that is
being performed. Where every moment has to be captured with the right intensity.
Generally, when filming any live event. If is being broadcasted. The live feed from each camera or will be
sent through a vision mixer where someone will choose which source goes out live. This tends to be a
favoured option even if it is not necessarily being broadcasted as it means there is no postproduction
editing to be done.

However, vision mixing desks can be incredibly expensive for anyone running on a small budget so some
professionals will film the whole music gig with multiple cameras and then edit it in post. This can be very
time consuming however there are some tools like the premiere pro multica mera editing function which
makes things much more efficient. While this does take much more time. It can produce nicer edited
footage as you can fix any mistakes you make while editing. When vision mixing live, you can quite ea sily
make a mistake such as pressing the wrong button or cutting to a camera and the camera is not quite
ready to be live and you end up getting some shaky footage. Additionally, when editing in post you can
adjust the footage to look nicer or add letterbox if you want to. That being said, obviously if you are
broadcasting live this is not possible.

How you can tell the story effectively

The significance of stage design is crucial, researching the venue and how the artists will use the stage
can determine how the viewers will feel when watching. According to Tal Lazer from Berklee Online “Stage
design elements need to be placed between songs, lighting cues and wardrobe changes all depend on knowing
the plan ahead of time” So, camera placement is something you have to think about in advance the
movement of the camera as well as the framing has to compliment the artist. Otherwise, it will feel
completely off with really lively artists and slow camera movements it just does not look right.

Tal Lazer also said “The planning of filming of a live concert begins with the setlist. If you are going to be working
with an artist who is currently on tour, you should check out the show before filming it” so additionally
analysing a setlist will enhance your ability to predict what instrument is going to start the next song.
There is nothing worse than the having one instrument start a song, but all the cameras are on the wrong
instrument. So, taking the time to go through the setlist can make the footage airtight. In any live event of
course, there will be a few surprises e.g. an encore you did not know was happening or some form of
crowd surfing that you had not prepared for. And learning how to adapt to those surprises can really
expand your capabilities as a filmmaker and overtime no one would be able to notice that it was a
surprise to you.

Video analysis

https://youtu.be/jHWyWgbH_70 - U2 | Glastonbury 2011

Looking into what this could look like, I have analysed a video from Glastonbury festival in 2011.
 The guitar starts the
song and immediately it
is clear how thought out
the filming of this was
because it fades
straight to the guitar
from the wide shot of
the stage so clearly the
director of the shoot
has gone through the
setlist, so they know
what instrument starts
the song. This can really
enhance the look of the
footage as you are seeing exactly what is happening on stage when it is happening. The deliberate transition
from the wide shot of the stage to the close up of the guitarist shows the director's meticulous approach.
Cutting to each instrument as they are being introduced can allow the audience to witness the unfolding
performance with a sense of intimacy.

Looking at this next shot, we can see that the song has continued to develop as Bono is singing now and the
vision mixer has executed a slow fade in between the wider shot of both of them and a close up of his face this
means that for a little while you can see both frames at once. When done right this can work really well as a way
to show more content at the same time with a well shot close up of Bono singing but also having The Edge in the
shot. Moreover, the director of photography would have had to organise the camera operators over comms to
get the right composition of the shot. Each camera facing the opposite direction with the perfect framing to get
this effect requires a lot of some forward planning as there’s rarely enough time to do this on the spot. Doing
this is a wonderful way to show off the artist as a promotional tool as the band can use this to get more people
to the next gig.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYhULQ_c0jI&ab_channel=FrankTurnerVEVOs - Frank Turner |

Nottingham Rock City
 Looking at
another live
production, this
one is a little bit
different, the
artist is much
livelier, so it has
been shot in a
hugely different
way,
additionally the
venue is much
smaller, so
everything is on
a much smaller
scale.

Just looking at one shot from 1:08 it is clear how different this production is compared to the video of U2. First
off, we are much closer to the artists, so it feels much more intimate, in this shot the camera operator is next to
the bassist and they have optimised the frame in a vastly different way to the other video, it is very wide and a
bit more vibrant. We can see more lens flare and obviously the stage is much smaller so you can see 4
musicians in one shot with the focus being on the bassist. This style of cinematography works really well for this
style of music because the viewers can feel the movement and the liveliness in the atmosphere. This creates a
much more suiting video for the band. Additionally, the cuts are significantly faster, and it does not fade over it
just does straight cuts. With all the footage being handheld, this gives the footage a much faster feel to it and
makes it more suiting to the style of music. When replicating the atmosphere with the style of footage you get.
The audience can get a more realistic idea of what that gig might be like, therefore making it a good piece of
promotional material.

In conclusion, I have learnt a lot about larger scale productions and how it can be done in bigger venues as I
have only ever worked on much smaller productions. I have learnt a lot about how preparation can really help
make the footage more airtight and look more professional. Taking all this into my final project I will use what I
have learnt e.g. I can make sure to analyse the setlist so for the start of each song I am focusing on the right
instrument. Additionally making sure all the cameras are setup to get the optimal composition. This will make it
much easier when filming live as I can always get a good clear shot.
Bibliography
Website Research -

1. https://nofilmschool.com/2012/07/cinematically-shoot-musical-performance-duran-duran-live-with-
den-lenniew - Cameras and the Setup
2. https://www.creativelivesinprogress.com/job-roles/vision-mixer - Vision Mixing
3. https://online.berklee.edu/takenote/cinematography-basics-live-concert-music-videos-film/ - Telling
the story

Video analysis –

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYhULQ_c0jI&ab_channel=FrankTurnerVEVO - Frank Turner

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHWyWgbH_70&ab_channel=vatnable – U2